Don’t think that this is just another sand and palm trees experience however, there is an impressive range of terrain to be discovered and explored as you become the Magellan of this map.

Is it large? It is very large, in fact calling it a ‘minecraft survival island map’ is to do it a bit of a disservice. This is more a minecraft survival archipelago. If you play it on survival or hard mode you’ll have many days of exploration ahead of you as you try to discover everything this map holds.

Tropica Islands comes in three versions, creative, survival and hard mode, where you’ll be forced to delete the map if you die even once. This map is therefore perfect for all kinds of minecraft players.

From the map maker that bought you the stunning Forgotten Land minecraft survival map comes Kingdom of Nefrimact, a sprawling hand painted continental style minecraft survival map download. (Continental as in, this map spans an entire continent, not continental as in toast and jam from a little packet.)

Survival on this expansive, extensive minecraft map is a matter of travel. Serious travel. Prepare yourself journeyman, for you will be sailing, swimming, climbing and sprinting your way across breathtaking vistas as you master the lands and isles of Nefrimact.

In addition to multiple locations there are also eleven music discs hidden throughout the world, so those of you with a penchant for collecting trophies will have that need satisfied in this map.

If you enjoy exploring minecraft worlds that have not been randomly generated but designed with the eye of an artist who would make Slartibartfast proud, then this is a must download survival map! Follow the river all the way up from the little village where you spawn, marveling at the towering mountains that surround you.

Finally! A minecraft survival map with an original premise! The Biome Clock survival features several distinct biomes (desert, fields, jungle, etc). Now that in itself isn’t original, but what is original is the ‘clock’ feature. Each biome is connected by a lava filled bridge that is only open for ten minutes every hour. Which means you have to plan out your survival tactics in order to gather enough resources in those ten minutes to tide you over for another fifty.

So unlike other chunk based biome minecraft maps, instead of simply building several bridges and calling it a day, you slowly build your survival empire, choosing one place to make a base and gathering resources from all around.

Foolish chicken! Those walls are soon to close in upon thee!

In addition to the thrill of limited resources and limited time is the thrill of rushing across the bridges, not being sure if you have time or not. Will you make it? Or have you cut your run too close and will your precious resources – the ones you just spent an hour gathering, be burned along with you?

A redstone based minecraft adventure map, now there’s something different. I say adventure map, this is pretty much a comprehensive redstone tutorial masquerading as an adventure map. They’re trying to make us learn! They’re trying to make us learn! Persevere through the first couple of lessons however and you’ll be treated to thrills and spills as the map maker turns his knowledge of redstone on you, plunging you to certain death only to rescue you at the last moment and laugh about it. Ho ho ho. Merry lava everybody!

If you’ve always wanted to learn how to use redstone to create impressive hidden doors, traps and minecraft machines, then this is a map you simply must play. Spend a little time wandering around the initial levels to grasp the basics, then get blasted into oblivion as the map maker wreaks his power upon thee. There’s fun and challenges ahead, and a solid puzzle solving element as well.

There’s also a scoring system based on how many gold and iron ingots you can find in hidden and not so hidden chests, so for those who are motivated by the notion of numbers as a measure of success, there’s something for you here too.

Also: parkour!

The texture pack is largely based on the default textures, but adds a few modern touches, like glass doors, which make for a pleasantly scientific look, but confuse the heck out of some players on their first play through *cough* me *cough*. There’s a few other textures that add to the ambiance as well, like the Professor Perk, who pops up after the first few rounds to gently point out the fact that the computer has gone rogue and the rest of the map will be spent with the computer trying to hurt you.

And that, my friends, is where the adventure really picks up. Gluts of fire rain down upon you as lava soaks across the floor and your knowledge seems too pitiful to save you. For an exciting and adventurous map of minecraft redstone learning….

A dropper map is a minecraft map in which the object of the game is not to survive, or to adventure, but to fall in the right place. It’s basically Alice’s fall down the rabbit hole, but with the story ending in the pool of tears and not going on to involve destroying people’s houses and kicking lizards out of chimneys.

The Library is a compilation of such maps, contributed to by many individual map makers (49 separate map makers, to be precise.) One begins, rather unsurprisingly, in an oversized library. Now I know we’ve all seen these ‘super scale’ minecraft builds before where the player becomes a tiny speck in a domestic scene, but this particular minecraft map really outdoes all others in terms of complexity and scale.

The map has a gentle learning curve, your first drop being a simple fall into a large-ish pool of water, which might lull you into a false sense of security, but don’t be lulled! Things quickly get much more exciting and visually impressive.

This is only the beginning. I’ve not included a whole lot of screenshots because a large part of the fun of the map is pressing a button and having crazy vertical worlds revealed in all their ‘oh my god I’m falling and I can’t get up’ glory.

Not only is this compilation a whole heck of fun, it’s pretty much a must play in terms of originality, scale and sheer amount of work that has gone into its construction. If you like to download minecraft maps in part because you like to be awestruck by the creative powers of other players, you will fall in love many times over in The Library.